1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus including a recording unit and an upper structure provided on top of the recording unit so as to open and close the top portion of the recording unit.
2. Related Art
Recording apparatuses integrally constituted of a recording unit and an upper structure such as a scanner unit, so called multifunction printer, have come to be widely employed, among which ink jet multifunction printers are most popular (see, for example, JP-A-2012-107393). Many of the ink jet multifunction printers are serial ink jet printers including a head unit (also called a carriage) with a recording head that ejects ink, the head unit being set to move in a predetermined direction.
Some of the head units include an ink chamber (hereinafter also referred to as “ink cartridge”) in which the ink is stored, while others do not include the ink cartridge.
The head unit including the ink cartridge is set to reciprocate in a predetermined direction with the ink cartridge mounted thereon, and the ink is supplied inside the head unit, from the ink cartridge to the recording head. In the printers in which the head unit is without the ink cartridge, the ink cartridge is provided independent from the head unit, and the ink cartridge and the head unit (recording head) are connected via an ink tube for supplying the ink therethrough (see, for example, JP-A-2010-131893).
Recently there has been an increasing demand for reduction in size of the ink jet multifunction printer, especially in height, i.e., reduction in size of the apparatus in the height direction. With the ink jet printer in which the ink cartridge is not mounted on the head unit, however, the ink tube has to be arranged between the inside and outside of the apparatus, which leads to an increase in size of the apparatus in the height direction. In addition, the ink tube has to be arranged between the inside and outside of the apparatus so as not to compromise the recording performance of the apparatus.